Blog Exercises: What Makes You Special?

I was confused. He lives in my neighborhood, walking distance from my front door.

“Here.” He handed me a huge stack of files stuffed with newspaper articles, 8×10 photographs, and odd-sized scraps of paper. As a professional web consultant and designer, I work with digital – all digital all the time. Holding ten pounds (4.5 kilos) in my arms of traditional media, I was even more confused.

Whether or not a client has a resume (CV), portfolio, old website, or a glossy brochure or two, I have all of them create a new resume, bio, and compile a collection of self-portraits and news articles published about them if they have them. For most people, this process is a challenge, often depressing. Many tell me they feel like they haven’t accomplished enough. Never have I been greeted with so much paperwork – and joy.

Digging through thousands of photographs of his projects, through newspaper articles dating back to the 1970’s, certificates of accomplishments, degrees, awards, testimonials – decades of evidence of a life lived well and richly, his self-confidence was restored. He realized that he had done something with his life and it was fantastic.

When was the last time you felt that way?Today’s blog exercise is to find your mojo again. To find the same joy in a sense of being and accomplishment as my friend and client.

Go through your resume and update it – updating it with style and energy this time. Be proud of your accomplishments.

Dig through your records and look for odd conferences or training programs you took that were more about who you are and less about building up qualifications as a label.

Sometimes what defines expertise is experience not formal education. Sift through your life’s memories and find ways of including summaries of life lessons.

Apply some of this new found creativity and energy towards your bio on your About Page. Add information that describes your personality and character, not just your boring list of jobs and job descriptions.

Celebrate your achievements, big or small. Sometimes it is the little lessons that teach us the most about life. Share those.

As we plow through our lives, there are many times when we lose ourselves. We become labels often assigned by others. We become parents, employees, job titles…these are perfectly fine labels but you are so much more.